On marketing.

Tense Pilgrimage To Kellogg's Set For Thanksgiving

October 26, 1998|By George Lazarus.

The chips will be on the line and the flakes flying Thanksgiving week--not necessarily of the snow variety--in Battle Creek, Mich.

That will be crunch time at Kellogg Co., when company executives hear presentations from four agencies in what's become a highly visible shootout to determine whether the cereal-maker needs to add another agency.

According to sources, Leo Burnett Co. and J. Walter Thompson Co., which now share Kellogg's advertising worldwide, along with Ammirati Puris Lintas New York, and Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., on Nov. 23 and 24 will present to Kellogg management on an assignment given them in September.

BBDO New York had been on the short list, but the agency bowed out because client Frito-Lay, which has been expanding its snack base, disliked the idea of BBDO working on Kellogg cereals, which could be competitive to its line.

Burnett, Kellogg's principal agency in the U.S. since 1949, is going all-out to make a statement that it can still serve Battle Creek better than anyone else, and that there's no reason to bring in another outside shop, observers report.

No doubt, JWT, which became a Kellogg agency in 1938, is taking the same approach.

Yet, Kellogg may decide it wants to add another agency, if only to get a new creative point of view. If that happens, one or two brands might be shifted from Burnett and/or JWT to the new shop, making it worthwhile financially.

Kellogg in 1997 spent $280 million in media advertising in the U.S., a budget that has been sharply cut back in recent years in favor of other promotions. That media outlay may or may not be increased.

Ebel Dunnell with Big Apple: BAB Holdings Inc., the Chicago-based franchiser of Big Apple Bagels, My Favorite Muffin and Brewster's Coffee stores, picked Ebel Dunnell Merrick for marketing communications to the consumer market. The client does its media advertising in-house. BAB now has 290 stores, more than half of them from its flagship Big Apple chain. BAB expects to open its 300th unit by Nov. 30, the end of its fiscal year. My Favorite Muffin and Brewster's Coffee, which also has branded products under its name, were recent acquisitions.

Dailey moves up: Patricia Dailey was promoted to editor-in-chief of Restaurants & Institutions, a Des Plaines-based publication of Cahners Business Information. Dailey, formerly with the Tribune, joined the magazine 18 months ago as managing editor. In her new post, she reports to Jeff Berlind, senior VP for Cahners food-service publications, and Steven Mayer, publisher of Restaurants & Institutions, which is published twice monthly. Separately, Tom Davidson, 13-year ad veteran of Good Housekeeping and recently a category manager, became Midwest manager of the Chicago office of Magazine Consultancy, a publisher's representatives firm that includes First for Women and Woman's World among its clients. Also, Susan DeCiani to manager of advertising at Hyatt Hotels Corp., reporting to Stacy Shaw, assistant VP-marketing.

Navistar aims to deliver: Chicago-based Navistar International Corp. on Monday breaks a print-TV branding campaign for its trucks, buses and engines under the International name, an effort that will include a 30-second commercial initially being aired on ABC-TV's Monday Night Football. This same spot will appear 150 times between now and Thanksgiving, said a Navistar spokesman. The campaign, with a "Delivering. Beyond the Expected" theme, was created by Ogilvy & Mather Chicago.

- Midas International decided on five agencies, including Lowe & Partners/SMS Manhattan, and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners San Francisco, in a competition for the creative portion of its estimated $35 million ad account, sources say. Chicago shops are said to include Euro RSCG Tatham and Cramer-Krasselt. TN Media continues with media responsibility on this account, which was recently resigned by sister unit Foote, Cone & Belding Chicago.